On politics in the Golden State

Jerry Brown's tax plan still in legislative limbo

September 9, 2011 | 12:19
pm

First, the good news for Gov. Jerry Brown: His $1-billion tax proposal, which cleared the Assembly with bipartisan support, cleared another legislative hurdle Friday morning and could be heard on the state Senate floor later in the day.

The bad news? There is still no evidence of the Republican backing the bill would need to reach the governor's desk, and Senate Democrats raised their own concerns about the proposal Friday morning.

"There's going to need to be some change ... we're not yet finished with the bill," said Sen. Lois Wolk (D-Davis), chairwoman of the Finance Committee, which approved the bill on a party-line vote Friday morning.

The tax proposal is one of the major issues the Legislature will debate on this final day of the legislative year. It would raise taxes on some out-of-state companies and use the money to increase the standard income-tax deduction for California taxpayers -- a change that would affect an estimated 4 million families. It would also offer a series of new tax credits for in-state businesses.

Brown is still negotiating with Republicans in hopes of finding two GOP senators to support the proposal.